Modern vehicles are frequently equipped with a vehicle telematics unit that can monitor vehicle functions and also provide the capability to wirelessly communicate voice and data transmissions to and from the vehicle. Apart from the communications functionality offered by the vehicle telematics unit, it is increasingly common for vehicle owners to carry handheld wireless devices, such as smart phones, when they use the vehicle. When the vehicle owner ultimately leaves the vehicle, the handheld wireless devices can sometimes be mistakenly left behind. The vehicle owner may later realize that the handheld wireless device is missing and recall using it in the vehicle. However, sometimes the vehicle owner realizes this when they are a significant distance from the vehicle, which would make personally checking the vehicle for the handheld wireless device inconvenient.